Pat putting his bat to bed: Burrell reportedly will end successful, yet trying career

Pat Burrell, slugger and winner of two championships, is on the verge of retirement. (Photo: Reuters/Robert Galbraith/File)

Pat Burrell, now 35, was once given the nickname ‘Pat the Bat.’ He was called this dating back to his days at the University of Miami. He hated it. It suited him, though. Before he left for the pros after his junior season, he crushed 61 homers and drove in 187 rbi’s in 162 games spanning three seasons. His .442 batting average ranked seventh all-time in NCAA history. He was the guy in college baseball, and was drafted number one overall by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1998. After putting together the aforementioned extraordinary numbers and a similarly ridiculous .888 slugging percentage, there was high hopes for the young man with undeniable strength in the city of Brotherly Love.

“If you had to commission a sports sculptor to render a statue of a power hitter, it would wind up looking something like Burrell,” Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin wrote in July, 1998. “Tall, but not gawky. Large, but not bulky.”

He didn’t disappoint, living up to his nickname and Conlin’s description. Slow-footed and a poor fielder, the 6’4″, 235-pound Burrell was in the middle of the lineup for his bat alone–and he sure made up for his misgivings, crushing minor league opponents to reach the majors in just over two years, where he continued to pulverize offerings.

Throughout his time in Philadelphia, his strength led to a more than respectable amount of home-runs. He did strike out a lot, leading to a consistently low, yet still satisfactory batting average, but also walked a lot, which kept his on-base percentage well above average. He was scrutinized as a Phillie. He was cheered as a Phillie. Yet, though they had plenty to cheer about he still didn’t get the credit he deserved. He wasn’t ‘The Next Mike Schmidt’ as he was touted coming out of Miami, but he was more than serviceable.

He brought them a championship in 2007, hit 30-plus homers four times, drove in 115-plus rbi’s twice, and was a consistent force–albeit one batting in the .260s regularly. Burrell elected free-agency following a successful 2008 season in which he hit 33 homers and drove in 86 rbi’s. He wanted to return to Philadelphia, but their effort to re-sign him was measly. They didn’t want him back. So, at thirty-two years of age, he was looking for a home after leaving the only one he had known.

Tampa Bay called him up and offered him a two-year contract. Few other offers came his way, and a full-time designated hitter position with the security of a second year suited him fine. Though his production and relatively young age warranted a longer and more lucrative contract, he couldn’t refuse this one, and he didn’t.

“He solidifies the middle of our already potent lineup,” Rays vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said at the time of Burrell’s signing. “We weren’t just singularly focused on a right-handed hitter, but it certainly is an advantage for us in terms of the way our lineup stacks up currently. We feel like any time you can add a hitter like Pat to the middle of the lineup, we’re a much-improved team today than we were at the end of last season.”

Burrell’s stint in Tampa Bay didn’t go as he or Friedman expected. He batted just .221 in 122 games in 2009, an all-time low. He struck out 119 times, 29 percent of the time. He was even worse in 2010, hitting .202 with a .292 on-base percentage in 24 games with the Rays before being cut. He was without a home once more, waiting by the phone. The San Francisco Giants called. He answered and signed a deal for the remainder of the 2010 season. He would be reunited with Aubrey Huff, his teammate with Miami all those years ago. It was a perfect chance to prove he wasn’t washed up. He did.

The Giants didn’t have much offense that year. They were known for their pitching. Much of the offense they did get, however, came from the bats of Burrell and Huff. Burrell was dangerous once more. He played left-field with few costly mistakes and returned to his Phillies form by nailing 18 homers, driving in 51 rbi’s, and getting on base at a .364 clip in 286 at-bats. He still struck out far too often, but was Pat the Bat again. And he could be summed up simply: solid contact, ball go far; no contact, wild swing, and a long walk back to dugout shaking his head, with a puzzling look out to the pitcher. It was his routine. San Francisco was happy so much good came with the bad. And his play helped fuel the franchise’s first championship since 1954, when Willie Mays made “The Catch” and Leo Durocher was manager.

Now, in the brisk November Fall, Burrell is calling it quits. Pat is putting away his bat. And it’s sad.

The foot injury that shortened his 2011 season isn’t one that he feels he can come back from. He struggled in the 2010 playoffs after finishing the season slowly, collecting just six hits in 42 at-bats strewn over 14 otherwise magical postseason games. He didn’t have much to give, and the foot problem added insult to injury.

He acknowledged earlier this November that this might be the end. “I have not decided yet, but I don’t think I can play anymore,” Burrell said. “It hurts me to say that.” When the Giants, on Thanksgiving, declined to offer him arbitration, the chances of him hanging up his spikes increased.

He always fascinated me. There were a few things about him that caught my eye. The way he looked blankly into the stands after striking out. The way he kept his anger in. The way his smooth swing produced moonshots. The way he powerfully locked arms in celebration with Huff after homers. He played with so much passion. He wasn’t Mike Schmidt, but he was Pat the Bat–a nickname he may dislike but is, and has always been, a compliment.

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